A Twisted Fairytale
by Aquamarine Cherry Blossom-chan
Summary: A "Once Upon a Time", but will it be a "Happily ever after..."? because after all, the world is not full of happiness and things don't always go your way. Love is not always a wonderful thing like it is in movies. It doesn't always end with a happy ending. Because, this is reality. Not a dream. Not a fairytale. MxN
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Gakuen Alice.**

**A Twisted Fairytale**

_**By: Aquamarine Cherry Blossom-chan**_

**Prologue**

Once upon a time, in a far, far away land...

Doesn't that phrase seem familiar to us all?

Isn't that the beginning of every fairy tale where later on the Princess meets Prince Charming and it will all be love at first sight?

And, oh the ending always goes like:

And they lived happily ever after...

Right?

But, that's a fairytale.

It's not a true story nor a reality.

Reality is like the complete opposite right? The world is not a wishing factory after all. Everything doesn't go the way you wish it will be and every thing is twisted and full of twists.

Twisted and twist.

Just like this one.

A twisted reality.

A twist of fate.

A twisted love.

A twisted story.

And a twisted...

A twisted fairytale.

Marine-chan: Hi there! I admit, this isn't what I thought this will be. I mean, I actually plan to introduce the characters and how they met. Not a simple, but super weird prologue like this one. But, I still hope you'll look forward to the next chapter! I'm halfway through it and I hope you guys don't mind if it will take a while since school is always in the way.

Anyways, I'm new to the GA fandom in FF net. I'm in the Cardcaptor fandom though until now, but I decided to try and be in this fandom of FF net. By the way, I am totally obsess with GA. Though yes, the ending KILLED me. Like until now.

Okay, enough of the rambling.

I hope you like this story and thanks for reading! ^^

Do NOT forget to drop a review before exiting this page, okay?

It will not take more than a minute. Just leave a nice comment to wake up to tomorrow? Okay?

See you guys next time!

Please review!

Bye! ^^

-Marine-chan


	2. Chapter 1

**A Twisted Fairytale**

_**By: Aquamarine Cherry Blossom-chan**_

**Chapter 1**

"Good morning!" the cheerful brunette greeted the whole 8.3 classroom with a smile. Others simply smile and nod their heads as as sign that they acknowledge her while some just groaned at the noise the cheerful brunette made on an early Monday morning.

As the usual routine goes, she greeted her best friend, Hotaru and hug her like there's no tomorrow. Hotaru, being the Ice Queen definitely shoved her away with a push. And Mikan, being Mikan cried tears of waterfall being shoved away like that and whining why Hotaru is always mean to her.

In the middle of Mikan's rant, 2 boys entered the room. The two boys who have their own fanclub since elementary. It's none other than the Hyuuga Natsume and the Nogi Ruka.

As soon as the two entered the room, Sakura Mikan, the brunette greeted both of them with a smile showing off her pearly whites, "Good morning, Ruka! Good morning, Natsume!"

"Morning Sakura" and "Hn." Was the only reply.

Not long after, the school bell rung and everyone goes back to their seat. The voices of the teacher drowned in the midst of Mikan's daydream. Classes here and there, note taking, reading and paying attention with several breaks in between was all that happened during the day.

The dismissal bell ring, making everyone jump happily as the school hours are over. No more listening to lectures from the teachers and drowning themselves in boring textbooks. Though everyone in the classroom either stayed in the classroom for a while to have some chat with their friends or just directly head back to the dormitory, Sakura Mikan hurriedly dash over to the now not blooming Sakura tree as it is now August.

She spotted a jet-blacked hair guy with a lean frame, leaning its back on the Sakura tree's trunk with a manga covering his face. She grinned.

"Natsume!" she shouted and ran the remaining distance to the tree.

"Hey Polka," he teased while sticking his tounge out.

Silence ensued. It was dead silent. The birds stop flying and chirping, no laughters, footsteps or chattering or even the slightest whisper could be heard. Only the wind blows. And the countdown begins. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

"NATSUME!" and all the birds in the trees left hastily with the scream shaking the grounds of Alice Academy.

She groaned. _This Natsume. He never changed._

"You're such a pervert! Peeking into people's underwear like that! Don't you think we all girls deserve a privacy? Actually, let me rephrase that. Can't you AT LEAST be a little bit more of a gentleman?!" and she ranted and ranted and ranted how she'll no longer be a good wife.

"Well, excuse me, woman! You are the one who showed me your underwear!"

"Me? ME? I? Showed you my underwear? We-"

"Yes, you idiot. Are you deaf? Or what?"

"I'm not done yet and no, I am not deaf!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really Natsume dear." Was her sarcastic remark and she walked to his right side and sat beside him.

She was furious, but she knows she can't stay mad at her best friend for a long time. She was used to this attitude of his since they've known each other all their lives. But she decided to keep her mad facade and stayed quiet, ignoring his presence.

A few moments of silence passed and suddenly she felt a weight on top of her head. A strong hand ruffles her hair in a teasing manner.

"Natsume!" she tried to swat his hand, but he was quick enough to withdraw it.

She let out a frustrated growl. "Now my pigtails are messy! Gosh, Natsume. Do you really have to do that?" she put her hands on top of her head as if she's shielding her head from a rain.

"Well you were so silent. I thought I might grab your attention when I do that and because I'm a super smarty I got that right." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well congratulations Mr. Smarty Pants! You gained the attention you wanted. Now, if you are a smarty pants, could you oh so kindly tell me how do I fix my messy hair right now?!"

"I told you to let your hair down," he whispered in a low voice, inching closer to her face. For a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her or something. When she finally realize what he's doing. He was sliding the ribbons that put her hair up and ran his fingers through her hair admiring the smooth texture of the honey colored hair.

Amber met crimson. Oh, how his stare makes her go all mushed up inside. If she's not sitting down right now, she would wobble and melt into a puddle of liquid. The reason? She doesn't know why, but she just love to look deep into those crimson eyes of his.

But, soon they break eye contacts. This is a usual thing for them. One moment, they were lost in each other's eyes but then they act as if nothing happened. All their friends, from Hotaru and Ruka to Sumire and Koko is beyond frustrated to knock both these two stubborn heads so they will realize they they actually are more than best friends.

"Hey," she started, "speaking of which, Natsume, can you help me with my math homework?"

"Still a dimwit in math, huh? Well it doesn't take a genius to actually know that," again he teased her.

"Psh. Don't get all high just because you excelled math real well."

To be honest, both of them know that Natsume excelled in all subjects. Simply said, he was born to be a genius. His intelligence is proven during tests and finals. He never even studied and yet he gained the highest or the 2nd highest in class. Either it's him or Hotaru.

"Well, I'll be a 'gentleman' and teach you in math if you want. I'll help you out. Library?" he offered.

"Sure."

Fifty minutes later, Mikan is still motivated to finish her 8 algebraic equations. She finished 7 of them at the moment. Just one last question and she'll be free from this torturous subject. Natsume is reading his manga, as usual. Only trying to help her when she needed him.

20 minutes ago, Sakura Mikan, asked help from her best friend to explained what is perfect square, what is difference of two squares and so on. Hyuuga Natsume calmly explained it to her and as soon as she get the concept Mikan began doing her work.

Just as he was flipping to another page, he heard his name called by the brunette. His smart reply was just a simple "Hn?"

"Natsume, I don't get this one," she pointed on the last question.

" 8(x-y)² - 50(2x+y)²," he read the equation out loud.

"So, 8 and 50 has a common factor of 2 right?"

She nodded.

"So you factorize 2 and then make an open bracket," he said while he wrote down the number 2 and the open bracket '{'.

"Then, because you factorized 2, 8 is divided by 2 which is?" he inquired.

"4."

He nodded. "And then you just rewrite the perfect square," he wrote down (x-y)²-

"Understand, so far?"

She nodded meekly.

"Then, because as I've said you factorized 2, you divide 50 by 2, which is?"

"25."

"So you write 25 after the negative sign and then rewrite (2x+y)² and the close bracket." He explained, "Now do all the rest by yourself. That's pretty simple already."

"Okay..." and she tried. And tried. And tried.

For like 15 minutes, there was only the sound of pencil against paper and eraser bits adding up here and there.

He sighed. She clearly doesn't get it. He grabbed her notebook and look at her working, ignoring the shocked look she was giving him.

He took her pencil and begin working on it. In less than a minute, he finished it.

Giving the book back to her, he mentally tell himself to be patient with this clueless girl in front of him. "After that, to make it simple, you don't have to go all the way and expand and all that. That will take too long so all you have to do is use the difference of two squares (DoTS)..."

They were walking towards the dormitory to get some quick rest and some time alone before dinner. It was just comfortable silence that settled between the two.

"Hey, Natsume," Mikan started.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think a short period of time can change things and twist everything around?"

He was thinking about her question and decided not to answer it.

Soon, they were in front of her door. He left and said good bye and went just a few rooms from her and went in as he heard her door close.

He sighed. He clearly doesn't know the answer to it. He decided that a shower might shrug that off, but oh how wrong is he. After changing to a pair of khakis and a black muscle tee, he lay himself down on his bed wondering why that question make such an impact on him until he can't even get it off his mind.

'_Do you think a short period of time can change things and twist everything around?'_ he remembered how innocent and curious she sounded when she asked that question.

And as he think it through and through, racking his brain for some answers, he have no other way, but to say,

Yes.

**Marine-chan:** and that concludes chapter 1! Yes, this was a very quick update. I have no homework at the moment and so this is what I tried to think of. By the way, the math question is a real one. It was in my worksheet and no, I don't hate maths. I love maths. Okay this is getting off topic.

Special thanks? My best friend, Kinesha. She's the one who gave an idea of writing a true story or something and yes, parts from this story, came from my experience so to speak or basically just what happened. And yes, I am in my 2nd semester of grade 8.

Anyways, reviews? Favorites? Follows? Pretty please with a cherry on top?

Please do review! I would like to know what you guys think of this story.

Thanks a bunch and please wait for the next chapter!~

-Marine-chan


	3. Chapter 2

**A Twisted Fairytale**

_**By: Aquamarine Cherry Blossom-chan**_

**Chapter 2**

Another day, another Thursday, another August 2. As usual, the happy-go-lucky Mikan made her way through the crowd and said good morning to everyone she knows. She went to her locker, turned her combination lock, tug the lock down and it opened. Getting her art sketchbook as it was her first and second subject for the day, she closed her locker and locked it before she goes out of the girls' locker area.

Just as she went out of the locker area, she spotted her best friend, Hyuuga Natsume right there with lots of fangirls crowding him as usual. She shot him an apologetic smile though he didn't notice her. And she continued her way towards her 8.3 classroom.

The morning routine began. Mikan greeting Hotaru, Hotaru rejecting her hug, Mikan cried waterfalls, the two popular boys came in and homeroom starts. Morning announcement was being read by their homeroom teacher, Mr. Narumi. The 20 minutes of homeroom passed and the whole 8.3 went to the art pod which was 2 floors below their classroom.

Hyuuga Natsume came up behind Mikan and tapped her shoulder, making her jump in shock. "What?" she asked, trying to look annoyed.

"What should we bring for art today besides the sketchbook?" he asked while going over to the boy's locker area and went to his locker.

Mikan reluctantly go with him and stand behind him, waiting for him to take his stuff while rummaging to his stuffed locker. "Just bring your sketchbook and hurry up! We're going to be late," looking at her watch, "there's just like 2 more minutes till the second bell ring, slowpoke."

"Yes, yes, whatever," he muttered.

The two of them fell silent and walked together to their art classroom. Right before the second bell rings, the both of them rushed towards the classroom and walked briskly towards their own respective seats.

"Good morning 8.3! Since it's just a week after you all returned from summer break, we will still have a review of what you learned last year which is the elements of art and we'll have a free sketching period today," Ms. Grace, the art teacher explained.

The 8.3 students just stayed silent as the first period of the review began with slideshows, taking notes, answering questions and paying attention. Not long after, the class started talking and laughing. With the noise that's been going on, Ms. Grace was disturbed.

"8.3! Be quiet please!" the brown haired teacher exlaimed while clapping her hands, but unfortunately, the students can't hear her because of the noise they are making.

Ms. Grace snapped. And so she decided that the seating arrangement will be changed. The teacher was pointing each students to their new assigned seat and after a few minutes of chair scraping the floor, students moving here and there and Ms. Grace pointing here and there, the new seating arrangement is complete.

"Okay, this is per-" Ms. Grace looked around the room and she stop her roaming eyes at the back right corner of the room where two spots are currently being seated by Natsume and Mochu, "wait, hold on. Mochu, switch with,"and she looked around the room again until she stop at the front row, "Mochu, switch with Mikan," Ms. Grace saw the look on Mochu's face that spelled no way and emphasized, "now."

Mochu scoffed while reluctantly gathered his stuff and walked towards the seat in the front and Mikan just went to her seat which was at the back right corner of the room with who? Non other than her best friend, Hyuuga Natsume.

The lesson continued with Natsume and Mikan constantly having small chats here and there. It feels like time was running very quickly for the both of them when they were busy having small talks about random things related to school.

Break time ensued and all the students from 8.3 piled out from the art pod and filled the cafeteria. Students started gathering in their own groups just like Mikan and her best friends, Anna, Nonoko, Sumire and Hotaru.

It was a blur for Mikan and the bell rung, signalling that they should head for their next class, Math. Oh, the worst subject ever for Mikan. It was a good thing though that Mr. Jinno is no longer teaching math and his substitute was Mr. Jun. Similar names, but very. Oh, very very different personalities.

If Jinno-sensei is the strict, old, mean and horrible math teacher, Mr. Jun is like the out going, fun, kind, patient and very funny teacher. That's why Mikan's hatred to math decrease just a little bit. It was no longer her most boring subject, rather it turns out to be the subject that was quite fun.

And just as the thought of math being one of the subject that was quite fun, boom! Mr. Jun presented the 8.3 students with the most wonderful project ever. A project. Not only that, it's due in like next Wednesday. Oh, joy! Yes, please note the sarcasm right there.

Just as the students thought it can't get worse than that, oh obviously it can. They were not allowed to pick their own group. And another loud disagreement sigh came from the students. But, Mr. Jun doesn't even care and decided that since there are 24 students, there will be 8 groups of 3.

_God, please, please, please, let me at least be with someone I am close with or at least comfortable with._ Mikan thought.

And soon, the torture began. Mr. Jun point to seats and called their numbers. You know, like the you're number 1, you're number 2, you're number 3 and so on. Mr. Jun's finger fell on the Hyuuga Natsume. Oh, he's number 1. The fingers go on, pointing here and there. Girls wanting to be number 1 not only because their grades will go up because of his brain, but just so they could spend time with the infamous Hyuuga Natsume. And oh, the next number 1 was called out and it was non other than Mochu. And wow, the last lucky number 1 goes to Mikan.

Once hearing that she's in the same group as Natsume, Mikan turned to the opposite left corner of the room where Natsume sat. It was a natural reflex for both of them. If there's a certain topic or news that sparks up any of their interest, they will turn their heads to look at each other and give a knowing look.

Natsume chuckled, "Oh, it's you." And give Mikan the look that says, _it's a good thing I'm not with those fangirls and slackers._

Mikan just giggled a little and send a smile to him and turned her head back to the teacher. Soon, the bell rung, signaling the end of the period of math.

Just as she was about to leave the room, something is tugging her shirt's sleeve. She looked up to see the crimson orbs of Natsume staring at her."Ye- yes?" she stuttered.

"Heeehhh. Why are you stuttering, Polka? Do I make you that nervous or something?" he smirked.

Mikan feel the need of actually high fiving him. In a face. With a brick. Oh and that temptation was tempting her every second as the smirk grew bigger and he knows he annoyed her already.

"Hyuuga Natsume. Don't give credit too much for yourself, big head. I was just surprised it was you," she retorted.

"Why are you even surprise? You think it was a ghost or something?" he scoffed, "anyways, when do you want to make the project?" he continued seriously.

"Up to you."

"This Saturday?" he offered.

"I'll see. Where? Your room?"

He grumbled. He doesn't like it when people goes to his room. But he has no choice and so he said reluctantly with an annoyed look, "fine."

"What about Mochu?" Mikan asked remembering that it is a 3 people project.

"I asked him and he said yes," he replied,"so Saturday then?"

"Yeah. The only time when I want to go out. So okay. Saturday," agreed Mikan.

Together, they walk down the hallway going to their next class not actually thinking that on this upcoming Saturday, things will change and they will realize something that will change everything little by little.

Marine-chan: Surprisingly, I didn't slack off with this story. Might as well say this is the first story that I'm writing with such passion and wanting to actually finish this quickly. So anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter and let's see what will happen next!

Don't forget to drop a review!

Much thanks and see you in the next chapter!

-Marine-chan


	4. Chapter 3

**A Twisted Fairytale**

_**By: Aquamarine Cherry Blossom-chan**_

**Chapter 3**

**...**

"_You know you're in love when he's the only thing you can think about before you fall asleep." ~Marine-chan~_

**...**

A week has passed since their math project was due and boy, was our favorite brunette got tangled up in her own feelings. It happened all too soon and it was just too good to be true to be reality. As she lied down on her back, preparing herself to sleep, she smiled towards her room's ceiling as flashback from the last Saturday flooded her mind over again.

_It was 3 in the afternoon and Natsume, Mochu and Mikan decided to do their math project about the number theory at Natsume's room. Natsume and Mochu was waiting for the girl to arrive and bored as they are, Mochu began rummaging through Natsume's refrigerator. Mind you, he was a special star so of course he has a fridge, small kitchen, a living room, a bedroom and a guestroom that has a connecting door that leads to the bathroom. Mochu brought out some snacks and began munching on them, Natsume, well he was annoyed and managed to just roll his eyes. Mochu, being Mochu started talking with Natsume and Natsume just replied with short answers or sarcastic remarks. Natsume doesn't know why, but deep inside him he can't wait for the brunette to arrive._

_Not long after, Mikan was facing Natsume's door. She doesn't know why she's nervous, is it because Natsume, she wondered and quickly dismissed her thought, scolding herself for thinking such things. Convincing herself that she was nervous because this was her first time going to a boy's room, she knocked on the door and waited for it to be opened. _

_The door opened in a flash and all Mikan do was drop her jaw as she saw the beautiful room right in front of her eyes. It was just plain huge and spacious that her three star room contained like an ant to this humongous one. The kitchen was spotless, a living room with black couches and a huge plasma TV, a balcony that has the view of the Northern Forest and the bright blue sky, a grand piano—wait what?_

"_Holy turtles!"_

"_Holy... turtles?" Natsume inquired and raised an eyebrow._

"_WHY IS THERE A FRIGGIN GRAND PIANO IN THIS ROOM?" _

"_Because I play the piano, strawberry."_

"_..."_

_He smirked._

"_I hate you." she muttered under her breath._

"_Well, lovebirds," Mochu decided to interrupt, "let's start working on the project shall we?" he yawned, "I'm bored so hurry up, I don't want to waste my time in here."_

_Natsume took out a black infraboard, a pencil, a scrap paper and some markers while Mikan got her glitter supply, colored papers and other decorations needed. _

_Time flies while they goof around and work on their project. They were assigned to create a venn diagram about the number theory which includes natural numbers, whole numbers, integers, rational numbers and irrational numbers. They had a plan in mind already, but then they started to debate whether to make an oval shaped venn diagram or a rectangle one._

"—_but, no! You can't do that! In my whole life, I haven't seen a venn diagram that is in a shape of a rectangle!"_

"_But, Mikan, you want to make an oval shaped venn diagram? Look!" he turned the infra board to the other side, "we made one and it looks like a freakin' potato!"_

"_Well, that's why you, Mochu, should have done a better job at it before! You just need to trace the line. Geez!"_

_Natsume, who was watching silently as the two bicker about the shape of their venn diagram, took out his laptop and went to Google. He typed 'shapes of venn diagram' in the google images section and the page loaded._

_Tapping on Mochu and Mikan, he showed the screen to them. _

"_Told you so! We should make a square venn diagram!"_

"_What?! No! There's just one, single picture of a venn diagram in the shape of a square! Look! The rest of them are oval or circles!"_

"_Polka, we better make a square venn diagram. It's easier and neater."_

_Mikan looked at Natsume in disbelief. How dare he! She was sure she was winning the argument and he just have to intervene with it and what managed to almost pop a vein in her forehead was that he was smirking._

"_Fine," she slumped in her seat and let Mochu draw the venn diagram._

"_Stop pouting, little girl. It makes you even uglier than ever." _

"_Jerk."_

_He smirked and that amused glint in his eyes speaks, 'I win.'_

_Just then, Mochu finished the square venn diagram and it was now five o'clock. Mikan continued to make bubbly letters using her colored papers while Natsume searched for information about the number theory. They work in complete silence with the accompaniment of the rustles of paper, the scratching of pencils and the tapping noise of the keyboard._

_Suddenly, Mochu stood up and went for the door, "I'm going. My job is done anyways," he opened the door, "so, bye." and he was out of sight._

_So, here Natsume and Mikan are. Alone. In the living room. At six in the evening. In silence._

_Mikan was still trying to figure out what in the world happened while Natsume was there, looking at the door in one moment and typing away in his laptop the next._

"_Stop drooling at the door, Polka."_

_And that voice, broke Mikan from her reverie. _

"_I was not drooling! I was simply staring. S-t-a-r-i-n-g. Staring."_

"_Right, right, I get you. This is no spelling contest. Sheesh." He rolled his eyes._

"_Yes, yes, Mr.," was Mikan's sarcastic remark._

_And it was silent. It was not awkward or anything, no, in fact it was a comfortable one._

_Natsume was browsing the net and typing paragraphs of information about natural numbers, whole numbers, integers, rational numbers and irrational numbers while Mikan was cutting out the shape of bubbly letters from her colored paper._

_Out of the blue, Natsume said, "I haven't eaten lunch yet," and begin taking some chips that was laid by Mochu in the table before._

"_Go eat first." 'well, being the jerk he is, I bet he's going to say, 'yeah, I'll go eat first and you go finish the project, bye little girl.' Way to go Mikan! Ha.'_

"_Nah," wait what? "I'm not hungry."_

"_Oh c'mon Natsume, I can hear those noises coming right from your stomach. Don't deny it, idiot. You are hungry," Mikan emphasized the last three words._

"_I'm not." _

'_Liar', was the only thing in Mikan's mind, but before she had the chance to reply back, he cut her off._

"_Say, Mikan, can you proofread these paragraphs?" she was shocked. He called her by her name, is the world ending or what? "I thought that I need some opinion from a stupid person at the least." Never mind. He smirked._

'_How could he?! One moment, he was all nice- wait no, I mean calling me by my name and then the next he was being such a jerk. The nerve of this guy.' Mikan smiled a sly one and came up with an idea. They say revenge is sweet, you bet._

_Mikan ignored him. _

_Natsume was annoyed._

_Score!_

"_Polka."_

_Silence greeted him._

"_Polka!"_

_Mikan 'busily' cut another bubbly letters._

"_Polkadots. Answer me or you'll regret ever thinking of ignoring me."_

'_Empty threats,' she mused to herself as she now took his pencil from the table, ignoring his glare, and make out a shape of another letter._

"_Mikan."_

_Okay. That stop her from doing anything else. Her eyes widened and nearly dropped her pencil. He smirked and she realized her mistake._

_He grabbed the pencil she was holding so abruptly and placed it on the tabletop._

_Uh oh. _

_Being best friends with this guy, Mikan knew what was coming and ran as far as she could from him. Round and around and around they go, Natsume chasing Mikan in circles. Getting the hang of the situation, he turned just when Mikan was coming to his direction. Her eyes wide opened and she crashed into his opened arms, falling to the carpeted floor below._

_He tickled her._

"_Stop...hahahaa..Na...haahaha..Nat...ahhahahaha...N atsu...haha..stop..stop...stop," she squirmed, tears forming from her eyes as she laughed._

_He didn't. _

_She took every ounce to overturn them, and when she did, hazel clashed with crimson._

_He left her breathless because of his sta...re, wait no, hold on. She meant it was because of the tickling he gave her earlier. _

"_Stop straddling me, Polkadots."_

_..._

"_YOU PERVERT!" she quickly got up and scurried back to her spot, sat down and continue her work, trying to hide the blush that was spreading in her cheeks._

_He chuckled at her cuteness and decided to tease her even more, "Me? I'm the pervert?" he chided, "Last time I check, you were the one who was on top of me."_

_Remembering how close they were, she turned red and looked down and take a pair of scissors to continue cutting, "Let's just get back to work."_

_He shrugged. "Hn," and get back to work. _

"_Polka, come and review this for me?" he motioned her to sit next to him as he pushed his Macbook slightly towards her._

_They were sharing the laptop, faces nearing the screen and cheeks nearly brushing. Mikan didn't notice anything though and Natsume didn't mind being this close to her. Mikan was reading the text and Natsume was watching her from the corner of his eyes._

_However, the moment was disturb when Mikan suddenly turn to look at Natsume and asked a question while pointing to a sentence, "I don't get this."_

_He took the laptop and begin reading the sentence she was mentioning about. Without looking up, he replied nonchalantly as he shrugged, "Oh, that. I get that from Wikipedia."_

"_NATSUME HYUUGA! Delete that sentence now! We're not allowed to plagiarize! What if Mr. Jun found out and gave us all a detention? I don't want a bad grade and then oh no, fail math class just because of a single, stupid sentence you plagiarized so erase that now!" and she rant on and on and on why he should not plagiarize._

"_Yes, ma'am," he replied sarcastically while doing a mock salute._

"_I'm serious."_

_He rephrased the sentence and give the laptop back to her, "Happy now?"_

_She smiled, "Very."_

_She read, not skimmed, through the paragraph and then she came across the last paragraph which then ended with a few examples. However, she saw that the equal signs are not aligned and whined, "Natsumeee! The equal sign should be aligned!"_

"_Why?" he answered her, too lazy to change it so it will be aligned._

"_It looks better!" was her reason._

"_No."_

"_What?!" she screeched._

"_I said 'no', little girl."_

"_But..."_

"_No buts," he cut her off._

"_Just change it!" she refused to give up._

"_No." His answer was final, but she was determined to change his mind._

"_Please?" pulling that trick of the puppy dog eyes, he remained silent. Her mind screaming in joy as she thought he finally give in._

"_No."_

_Oh how wrong was she._

_Fuming, he grabbed the laptop and heatedly say, "Fine, I'll do it."_

_He smirked as he watched her struggle to get the equal sign aligned but it was either too much to the right or to the left. She gave up and groaned while ducking her head down in defeat, "I can't."_

_He sighed, trying to cover up a smile and grab the laptop from her and showed her how to do it, "This," he emphasized the word, "is how you do it, Polka."_

_Her face lit up seeing that the equal sign was properly aligned, what can you expect from Natsume Hyuuga? "That's better! Thanks Natsume! And I do think the information is well written. Just add the work cited and you're done right?"_

"_Hn. I'll do some more editing then."_

_She was about to trace another letter when she found out, the pencil was missing and in the same moment, Natsume asked her without taking his eyes off his laptop, "Can I borrow the pencil? I need to write some things down."_

"_Um... Natsume. I can't find the pencil anywhere," she replied hesitantly._

_He took off his eyes from his laptop and stared at her, "What? That was my favorite, you idiot!" _

"_I... I'll look for it!" _

_He rolled his eyes and they searched for his long lost pencil in the midst of scrap papers, eraser bits, colored papers, a pair of scissors and all those random stuff._

_They both had a look of recognition as they saw the pencil they searched for. Instantly grabbing for it, Natsume's hand fell on top Mikan._

_Now, it's not the typical manga or anime type of thing where they look into each other's eyes and take their hands away shyly. No. This was just one swift touch that left a tingling feeling. It was quick and it was a feather light touch. Sure, it leaves sparks of electricity for Mikan, but other than that, Natsume acted like he doesn't know anything. Although he knew deep down, it was not for the touch linger longer than necessary._

_But they both acted like nothing happened and just as they were withdrawing their hands, the booming sounds of firework echoed through their ears. There was a firework show, that was clear, but it was not from Alice Academy, yet it was from the city. They don't know what the occasion was, but they assumed it was just a random thing happening right now._

_No, they did not watch the firework together, mind you. They simply enjoy each other's company and just keep on working while listening to the thundering voice of the fireworks blooming in the night sky. Speaking of night, what time is it, you may ask._

"_Hey, Natsume,"_

"_Hn?"_

"_What time is it?"_

_He looked across him to find the clock showing that it was now 8.30 pm. _

"_8.30," was the only answer._

"_WHAT?!" came the response of the shocked brunette. I mean, come on, if you were stuck, wait scratch that. If you were at a boy's house, well dorm in this case, alone, with a guy from around 3 to 8.30 pm, who wouldn't be freaked out. I mean sure they're best friends, but there was no adult and it was late already._

"_Yes, Polka. It's 8.30," was his calm reaction._

_Though she wished she could just go home and sleep, in the back of her mind, she knew she doesn't want to leave. It was just too fun and she.. she just doesn't want all of this to end._

_They soon resume to have friendly conversations about their family, their childhood and the stories from their past. A warm aura surrounded them both and the fuzzy feeling they felt when they talk about everything random was just unforgettable. They soon talk about her likes and dislikes and decided to create a game of their own._

"_It's like 20 questions, but let's change it to likes and dislike," she started off, "you first."_

"_Strawberries?"_

"_Of course yes!" she smiled, "Dark chocolate?"_

_He merely nodded, "Polkadots?" he smirked._

_She blushed and murmured, "Pervert," as she nod, "Red?"_

"_And black," he added, "Bugs?"_

"_Ew, no, I hate them," she scrunched her face in disgust while he chuckled a small one, "Bunnies?"_

"_Are you trying to make me sound gay or something?" _

_Mikan laughed and their game continued on, their work left forgotten._

_Soon, they were just simply two best friends having fun, with no care about the whole world. Natsume often make jokes, just to make Mikan throw her head back laughing. As much as they don't want the day to end, everything has it's end and just as if it was on cue, the bell rang, signaling that there was just 15 minutes left until curfew, signaling every student to go back to their room._

_They both took it as a cue and call it a wrap as they tidy their things up. Natsume helped Mikan got her things into her paper bag. He opened the paper bag for her and just as Mikan put her things in, their hands brushed against each other for the second time that day, but they simply shrugged it off, pretending that it never happened._

_Mikan was walking towards the door and as she turned to say thank you for today, she noticed he's following her. Shooting him a questioning look of why is he following her, he answered, reading her mind, " I'll walk you to your room."_

_There was no chatting that ensued, but they walk in silence as the sounds of their footsteps tapping silently in the wooden floor accompanied them both. And it was enough. It was perfect._

_Soon, they arrived at her door and she unlock her door. But before she went inside, she thanked him for the day, "Thank you for today. I had fun."_

_He simply nod, and said, "Good night, Polka. Bye."_

_And as she closed her door and he walked away, both of them felt a tug in the corner of their mouths._

_A smile._

And as Mikan tossed and turned in her bed a week later on a Wednesday night, she denies that she has feelings for the certain crimson eyed lad because it was just not possible. He treats every girl the same just like a gentleman right?

Or so she thought, before she fell into deep slumber with a smile on her face.

**...**

Marine-chan: HELLO! Sorry for not updating in like forever, but here's chapter 3! Hope you all had fun reading this chapter :D because I certainly had fun writing this one. Reasons for not updating: school, but since school's out since like last month lol and I still have one more month of vacation to go, do expect frequent updates for each on-going story I currently have.

PS. SORRY for any grammatical errors, I didn't edit this at all and english is not my first language. Bear with me? ^^ I'm trying to improve here.

Hope you had a greaaat summer so far!

Don't forget to drop a review! ^^

-Marine-chan

July 10, 2013 (00:38)


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